Over the last two years, Uganda has seen mobile telephone users jump from 3 million to close to 9 million.

The introduction of affordable handsets as well as the opening up of the sector to full competition two years ago helped this growth.

According to Masambu, MNP might be provided by a third-party operator, rather than the five telcos that operate in the market today.

Incumbent players -- especially MTN Uganda, Zain Uganda and Uganda Telecom -- do not mind whether MNP gets introduced at a later date, since they have big subscriber numbers. But new entrants Warid Telecom and Orange Uganda see things differently.

An Orange Uganda official argued that MNP is important now because it gives customers the right to change supplier.